Abstract
ABSTRACT Length of time since agricultural abandonment, variations in topography and soil, and forest fragmentation associated with suburban development can influence dominant vegetation and foster exotic species invasion in a secondary successional forest. The Middle Patuxent Environmental Area (MPEA) in Maryland is a regrowth forest adjacent to suburban sprawl that was abandoned from agriculture at staggered rates. I surveyed vegetation throughout the MPEA to investigate how these interrelated factors have influenced species distribution and abundance. My predictions were that time since abandonment would explain the broader differences in forest succession, but that topography and an interface with suburbia would be the strongest determinants of smaller-scale species discrepancies within an area of similar abandonment history. I performed a hard noise clustering analysis using the R package vegclust to classify the MPEA into herbaceous, shrub, and tree communities each dominated by similar species. Tr...
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
